If you're scared about the hard drive failing just get a 2TB that supports raid 1. It will mirror the exact same data so if one of the drives fail, you still have the other one.

^ what is the drive called as i can't seem to find it on newegg...

if the drive does fail, is there anyway to get the data on it back or is it completely gone?

im thinking i should get x2 500gb externals as to just one big 1.5tb drive.

i dont like the external drives with on/off switch cause i think each time you do it it puts a strain on the drive. i like wd as they turn on/off with the computer and when not in use just goes in sleep mode.